You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams

Tony-winning star of stage and screen, Alan Cumming, follows up his 2014 memoir, "Not My Father's Son," with "You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams: My Life in Stories and Pictures," a fun, heartfelt, adorably catty collection of anecdotes and accompanying photographs from the entertainer's personal and professional life.

Understandably, the two subjects who are mentioned and appear most often are Cumming's husband, Grant, and his late dog, Honey. One of the book's early highlights is a weeklong road trip ("Travels with Honey") across the United States, including stops in Ohio, Iowa and South Dakota, where Cumming wittily recounts the abundance of fundamentalist radio stations broadcast from within our country's center.

A significant number of pages are filled with delightfully decadent images ("After Dark"), particularly at two New York City gay bars, Eastern Bloc and Julius's, where Cumming shares random names (and sometimes nameless), faces and figures from his nightcap adventures.

The most sullen yet profound entry is a selfie taken at the Caf� Argana in Morocco, the day after it was leveled from a terrorist attack explosion.

But if it's celebrity names and snapshots that you're looking for, there's plenty to feast upon, from the red carpet at the Oscars to the Great White Way.

His "Tempest" co-star, Helen Mirren, and friend, Natalie Merchant, are subjects because of their shoes, and a discarded edition of the New York Times memorializing Elizabeth Taylor on the cover reminds Cumming of a party at Carrie Fisher's home where he first met the silver screen legend.

Other noteworthy co-stars include Cyndi Lauper ("Threepenny Opera" on Broadway) and Chris Noth ("The Good Wife"), and his stories about Kylie Minogue, Liza Minelli, Gore Vidal and Ann Miller are equally endearing and entertaining.

The book's title is a direct quote from Oprah Winfrey, spoken during a chance encounter, the details of which are too precious to reveal here.

"You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams" does prolific justice to Alan Cumming's illustrious career and the whimsical personality of a true artist.

"You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams: My Life in Stories and Pictures"
Alan Cumming
$29.95
Rizzoli Ex Libris